Unifor brings labour rights to the forefront during NAFTA talks in Mexico

MEXICO CITY, Sept. 5, 2017 /CNW/ - Unifor put a spotlight on labour rights by bringing workers issues to the forefront during the second round of renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement in Mexico City.

"During this round of talks Unifor brought labour rights into discussion with Mexican workers, with NAFTA negotiating teams, and with international media," said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. "Meeting and speaking to Mexican workers has driven home the need to ensure workers issues are included in all negotiations."

Dias led a Unifor delegation that included Quebec Director Renaud Gagné and the Directors of Unifor's Human Rights and International and Research departments. While in Mexico City, Dias addressed the Los Mineros annual conference to call on the Mexican government to publicly state that the union's President Napoleón Gómez Urrutia can end his exile in Canada and return home in safety.

The delegation also attended a worker's rally and met with several legitimate unions to hear a first-hand account of working conditions.

"The legitimate labour movement is fighting to wrest back worker's power from corporations, from the government and from corrupt unions," said Gagné. "Worker's struggles do not end at the border; we join our Mexican sisters and brothers in the goal to achieve a fair NAFTA for all workers."

While in Mexico Unifor also continued its role as advisor to the Canadian negotiating team, a role it will resume during the next talks scheduled to take place in Ottawa in the coming weeks.

For more information visit unifor.org/NAFTA.

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing more than 310,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.

SOURCE Unifor

To book an interview with Jerry Dias please contact Unifor Communications Representative Kathleen O'Keefe at [email protected] or 416-896-3303 (cell)